Editor's entry
~1 min readP. D. Ouspensky’s posthumously published record of his eight years (1915–1923) as G. I. Gurdjieff’s leading pupil, across Moscow, St Petersburg, the Caucasus, Constantinople and London. The book is written as direct transcription of Gurdjieff’s lectures and conversations, organised by topic rather than strict chronology, and is the principal source for the Fourth Way teaching as Gurdjieff articulated it before Ouspensky broke with him in 1924.
The manuscript was complete by 1947 and published in 1949 — two years after Ouspensky’s death and the same year as Gurdjieff’s. The book systematises ideas that Gurdjieff himself only ever published in the more allusive All and Everything: the diagram of the human machine and its centres, the Ray of Creation, the food octave, the Law of Three and the Law of Seven, the conditions of self-remembering, and the distinction between essence and personality. It has stayed in print continuously and is the standard introduction within Fourth Way schools.
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Reception
editor-collectedTreated by the Fourth Way community and by serious students of Gurdjieff as the indispensable primary text — more systematic than Gurdjieff’s own All and Everything and more reliable than later second-hand accounts. The internal historiography is more contested than the popular reception suggests: Ouspensky’s account reflects his selection and emphasis, and the schism with Gurdjieff in 1924 colours what is and isn’t included. The book’s standing has remained stable across the 1970s rediscovery and the more recent academic interest in Gurdjieff, notably Joseph Azize’s work.
Index reception note
Frequently asked
3 questions- What is In Search of the Miraculous?
- P. D. Ouspensky’s record of his eight years (1915–1923) as G. I. Gurdjieff’s leading pupil, written as direct transcription of Gurdjieff’s lectures and conversations and organised by topic. It is the principal source for the Fourth Way teaching as Gurdjieff articulated it before Ouspensky broke with him in 1924.
- Why is it considered the primary Fourth Way text?
- Gurdjieff himself published only the more allusive All and Everything. Ouspensky was a trained philosopher and a careful note-taker, and the book systematises the diagram of the human machine, the Ray of Creation, the Law of Three and the Law of Seven, the conditions of self-remembering, and the distinction between essence and personality in a way no other source matches.
- How reliable is Ouspensky’s account?
- Within the Fourth Way community it is treated as the indispensable primary text. The internal historiography is more contested than the popular reception suggests: Ouspensky’s selection reflects his own emphasis, and the 1924 schism with Gurdjieff colours what is and isn’t included. Recent academic work — notably Joseph Azize’s — situates the book inside that more complicated picture.
Catalogue record
- Author
- P.D. Ouspensky
- Title
- In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching
- Original title
- In Search of the Miraculous
- Publisher
- Harcourt, Brace and Company
- Year
- 1 January 1949
- Pages
- 399
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780156007467
- Shelf
- Esoteric · Philosophy · Awakening
Availability
By the same author
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